The Lightning Racer became the first wooden racing/dueling coaster in the United States when it was built in 2000 by Great Coaster International. It is a double-track wooden roller coaster constructed with Southern Yellow Pine wood
with two staggered lifts. Each Train of cars can hold up to 24 people so even though it is a popular ride, the line is not as long as one would expect. In the polls, it consistantly ranks in the top 10 in the golden Ticket awards and top 25-35 in the Mitch Hawker's best roller coaster poll for their wooden division.
In order to explain the physics of the Lightning racer, some measurements were gathered and other data recorded. To start, with a stopwatch, the total time from when the ride started to move to when it crossed the finish line was taken. A GLX inside a special vest was worn while ridding the ride to record the acceleration in three directions. The angle above the horizontal at two spots (from eyesight) with the distance in paces between was taken to the top of the first big hill and for the finish line. Next, the time for the entire length of the train of cars to pass a point was taken with a stop watch at the top of the first big hill, bottom of that hill and at the finish line. For each set of data, 3 good trials were taken so that they could be averaged together to become more accurate. The length of the train of car on the ride was measured in paces. The height of the first hill, mass of the train of cars, and length of the tracks were found online.
Data Total Time
Thunder (s)
Lighting (s)
153.95
153.95
153.58
152.97
152.72
152.67
Basic Measurements
10.25ft = 5 steps
Length of Train = 18.25steps
Mass of Train= 5171kg
Length of Track = 3393ft Height of Hill one
91.6ft Top of Hill 1
Thunder's Time to Cross (s)
Lighting's Time to Cross (s)
4.74
4.21
4.31
4.81
5.21
4.75
At Finish Line
Angles to top 6.5 and 11 degrees with 36 steps separating them
Thunder's Time to Cross (s)
Lighting's Time to Cross (s)
1.99
1.26
1.78
1.30
1.44
1.43
Bottom of Hill 1
The height is approximately .50 meters above the ground.(Height is Taken from the middle of the trains height at all locations)
Thunder's Time to Cross (s)
Lighting's Time to Cross (s)
0.53
0.57
0.79
0.6Area = 136.4m/s = Total Velocity
Calculations Calculations
The distance of 5 paces was measured at home so that the distance per pace could be calculated by taking the distance in inches and converting it into meters and then dividing by 5. Thus, with that, the length of the train of cars could be found and then divided by the average time for the train to pass any point to find the instant speed at that point. The total average speed for the path of the ride was calculated by dividing the length of the ride to the finish line by the time it took to complete that distance. The angles and distance between them mentioned above can be plugged into a formula given online to find the height at a specific location on the track. With the velocity, height, and mass at each point, the potential and kinetic energy can be calculated for each point. The kinetic energy formula is (1/2)mv^2 and the formula for potential gravitational energy is mgy. The conservation of energy is the main concept behind this ride because it is carried up very high so it can gain a lot of potential energy and it uses that energy to power the rest of the ride.
(sinϕ1(sinϕ2))/sin(ϕ2-ϕ1)L=h L=.625(36)=2249m (sin6.5)*sin(11)/(sin11-6.5)22.49= (.0216/.07845)22.49=.275(22.49)=6.19 6.19 +1.65 (Nate's height to eye)= 7.84m Energy E = mgy +1/2mv2 m= 5171 g=9.8 y =7.84m mgy= 5171(9.8)7.84 = 3.97E5J Thunder m=5171 v= 6.55m/s .5mv2= .5(5171)(6.55)2= 1.11E5J total = 1.11E5+3.97E5= 5.08E5J Lighting m=5171 v= 8.57 .5mv2= .5(5171)(8.57)2=1.90E5J
total =1.90E5+3.97E5= 5.87E5J
Acceleration Graphs of Thunder
The GLX was used to find the the horizontal acceleration (x), vertical acceleration (y), and sideways acceleration (z). The graphs can show different parts of the ride like when it just took off, climbed up the first big hill, when it went down that hill, and at the finish line. The area under each GLX graph represents each the average velocity in their respective directions. X Acceleration
Total Velocity = Area = 136.4m/s
Y Acceleration
Total Velocity = Area = 1004.0m/s
Z Acceleration
Total Velocity = Area = 549.8m/s
Points
The little drop to increase velocity before the starting hill
The time as the train is being towed up the starting hill
Lightning Racer
By Austin Tarman, Nate Pardoe, and Joshua Pardoe.The Lightning Racer became the first wooden racing/dueling coaster in the United States when it was built in 2000 by Great Coaster International. It is a double-track wooden roller coaster constructed with Southern Yellow Pine wood
with two staggered lifts. Each Train of cars can hold up to 24 people so even though it is a popular ride, the line is not as long as one would expect. In the polls, it consistantly ranks in the top 10 in the golden Ticket awards and top 25-35 in the Mitch Hawker's best roller coaster poll for their wooden division.
In order to explain the physics of the Lightning racer, some measurements were gathered and other data recorded. To start, with a stopwatch, the total time from when the ride started to move to when it crossed the finish line was taken. A GLX inside a special vest was worn while ridding the ride to record the acceleration in three directions. The angle above the horizontal at two spots (from eyesight) with the distance in paces between was taken to the top of the first big hill and for the finish line. Next, the time for the entire length of the train of cars to pass a point was taken with a stop watch at the top of the first big hill, bottom of that hill and at the finish line. For each set of data, 3 good trials were taken so that they could be averaged together to become more accurate. The length of the train of car on the ride was measured in paces. The height of the first hill, mass of the train of cars, and length of the tracks were found online.
Data
Total Time
10.25ft = 5 steps
Length of Train = 18.25steps
Mass of Train= 5171kg
Length of Track = 3393ft
Height of Hill one
91.6ft
Top of Hill 1
Angles to top 6.5 and 11 degrees with 36 steps separating them
The height is approximately .50 meters above the ground.(Height is Taken from the middle of the trains height at all locations)
Calculations
The distance of 5 paces was measured at home so that the distance per pace could be calculated by taking the distance in inches and converting it into meters and then dividing by 5. Thus, with that, the length of the train of cars could be found and then divided by the average time for the train to pass any point to find the instant speed at that point. The total average speed for the path of the ride was calculated by dividing the length of the ride to the finish line by the time it took to complete that distance. The angles and distance between them mentioned above can be plugged into a formula given online to find the height at a specific location on the track. With the velocity, height, and mass at each point, the potential and kinetic energy can be calculated for each point. The kinetic energy formula is (1/2)mv^2 and the formula for potential gravitational energy is mgy. The conservation of energy is the main concept behind this ride because it is carried up very high so it can gain a lot of potential energy and it uses that energy to power the rest of the ride.
Length of One Step
10.25ft =5 step
10.25(12)=123in 123(2.54)= 312.4cm 312.4/100= 3.124m
3.124m= 5steps 1 step = 3.124/5 =.625m
Length of Trains
1 Train = 18.25step 1 step = .625m
1 Train = 18.25(.625) =11.40m
Average Velocity
V=x/t
x =3393ft(3.38)=1034m t= 153.42
v= 1034/153.42 = 6.74m/s
Lighting
x = 1034 t= 153.20
v= 1034/153.20 = 6.75m/s
Top of the Hill
Velocity
V=x/t
x=11.40 t=4.75
v=11.40/4.75=2.40m/s
Lighting
x=11.40 t=4.59
v=11.40/4.59 =2.48m/s
Energy
E = mgy +1/2mv2
m= 5171 g=9.8 y =91.6ft/3.28=27.92m mgy= 5171(9.8)27.92 = 1.41E6J
Thunder
m=5171 v= 2.40 .5mv2= .5(5171)(2.40)2= 14890J
total = 14890+1.41E6= 1.43E6J
Lighting
m=5171 v= 2.48 .5mv2= .5(5171)(2.48)2=15900J
total =15900+1.41E6= 1.44E6
At Bottom of First Hill
Velocity
V=x/t
x=11.40 t= .66
v=11.40/.66 = 17.3m/s
Lightning
x=11.40 t =.63
v=11.40/.63=18.1m/s
Energy
E = mgy +1/2mv2
m= 5171 g=9.8 y =.50m mgy= 5171(9.8)()=24713J
Thunder
m=5171 v= 17.3 .5mv2= .5(5171)(17.3)2= 7.74E5J
total = 7.74E5+24713= 7.99E5J
Lighting
m=5171 v= 18.1 .5mv2= .5(5171)(18.1)2=8.47E5J
total =8.47E5+24713= 8.72E5EJ
At Finish
Velocity
v=x/t
x=11.40 t=1.74
v=11.40/1.74=6.55m/s
Lightning
x=11.40 t=1.33
v=11.40/1.338=8.57m/s
Height
(sinϕ1(sinϕ2))/sin(ϕ2-ϕ1)L=h
L=.625(36)=2249m
(sin6.5)*sin(11)/(sin11-6.5)22.49= (.0216/.07845)22.49=.275(22.49)=6.19
6.19 +1.65 (Nate's height to eye)= 7.84m
Energy
E = mgy +1/2mv2
m= 5171 g=9.8 y =7.84m mgy= 5171(9.8)7.84 = 3.97E5J
Thunder
m=5171 v= 6.55m/s .5mv2= .5(5171)(6.55)2= 1.11E5J
total = 1.11E5+3.97E5= 5.08E5J
Lighting
m=5171 v= 8.57 .5mv2= .5(5171)(8.57)2=1.90E5J
total =1.90E5+3.97E5= 5.87E5J
Acceleration Graphs of Thunder
The GLX was used to find the the horizontal acceleration (x), vertical acceleration (y), and sideways acceleration (z). The graphs can show different parts of the ride like when it just took off, climbed up the first big hill, when it went down that hill, and at the finish line. The area under each GLX graph represents each the average velocity in their respective directions.
X Acceleration
Total Velocity = Area = 136.4m/s
Y Acceleration
Total Velocity = Area = 1004.0m/s
Z Acceleration
Total Velocity = Area = 549.8m/s
Points
Sources
http://coasterkev.homestead.com/Favorites.html
http://www.hersheypark.com/rides/details.php?id=2
http://rcdb.com/597.htm
http://coasterbuzz.com/RollerCoasters/lightning-racer